Burnishing tool

ABSTRACT

A burnishing tool includes a spring-loaded plunger which projects from a barrel, the plunger having a tip for providing a spring-loaded burnishing surface. The plunger provides a constant burnishing force for transferring indicia from a carrier sheet to a receiving surface when the tool is used.

United States Patent Van Arnam et al.

BURNISHING TOOL Inventors: Donald E. Van Arnam, Surfside;

Frank A. Marovich, Hacienda Heights, both of Calif.

Avery Products Corporation, San Marino, Calif.

Filed: Sept. 1, 1971 Appl. No.: 176,829

[73] Assignee:

us. Cl. 81/9.2, 29/901 Int. Cl B411)- 1/00 Field or Search..;.... 81/92,3 R;

References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS 11/1968 Horley et a1 73/141 ABPrimary ExaminerJames L. Jones, Jr. Attorney-Andrew .1. Belansky et a1.

[5 7] ABSTRACT A burnishing tool includes a spring-loaded plunger whichprojects from a barrel, the plunger having a tip for providing aspring-loaded burnishing surface. The plunger provides a constantburnishing force for transferring indicia from a carrier sheet to areceiving surface when the tool is used.

6 Claims, 2 Drawing Figures PATENTED SEPVZ 5 I973 III/llllk 41: W I

lllllllliijkv v fl I N VEN TOR. 004/410 5. mm mm BY Fem 4 MMOV/dl/BURNISHING TOOL BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION This invention relates toburnishing tools, and provides an improved burnishing tool which isparticularly useful with dry transfer materials of the type in which anadhesive transfer (decalcomania) is transferred from a carrier sheet toa receiving surface.

Prior to this invention, images, designs, or printed matter (generallyreferred to hereinafter as indicia) have been transferred by applyingpressure with a rigid burnishing tool. Thus, unless the operator isskilled and familiar with the characteristics of the particular drytransfer material being used, the transfer of indicia is oftenunsatisfactory because of the great variations in pressure, or rubbingforce, applied by different operators with the rigid burnishing tool. Ifsufficient pressure is not applied during the rubbing or burnishingoperation, the indicia are not transferred from the carrier sheet to thereceiving surface. If excessive burnishing force is used, the indiciamay be broken or improperly transferred, or the carrier sheet may bedamaged or distorted to such a degree that it cannot be subsequentlyused to transfer other indicia left on the carrier sheet.

This invention provides a burnishing toolin which the burnishing forceapplied by the operator is automatically held substantially constant bya spring which urges a plunger in the burnishing tool against thecarrier sheet on which the indicia are mounted. Thus, regardless ofwhich operator may be using the burnishing tool, and regardless of hisexperience, a substantially constant burnishing force is provided by thetool in accordance with the strength of the spring. I

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION Briefly, the burnishing tool of this inventionincludes a movable plunger mounted to slide in abore in an elongatedbarrel. Spring means urge the plunger out of the bore, and stop meanslimit the travel of the plunger out of the bore. The tip of the plungerprojects from the bore 'to provide a spring-loaded burnishing surfacewhich operates at a substantially constant burnishing force as the toolis used.

Preferably, means are provided for adjusting and indicating the force ofthe spring. The bore extends entirely through the barrel, and a shank isthreaded into the end of the barrel opposite the end from which theplunger tip projects. A follower between the spring and the shank isurged against the spring as the shank is turned down into the threadedend of the barrel.

Preferably, the barrel is made of plastic, and a tip ring is pressfitted into the end of the barrel around the plunger to provide aninwardly extending annular shoulder which engages the plunger to limitplunger travel out of the bore.

' BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWING These and other aspects of theinvention will be more fully understood from the following detaileddescription of the preferred embodiment and the accompanying drawing, inwhich:

FIG. 1 is a side elevation, partly in section, of the preferred form ofthe burnishing tool; and

FIG. 2 is an enlarged sectional elevation view of the barrel of theburnishing tool.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENT Referring to thedrawings, an elongated barrel 10, preferably made of plastic such asDelrin, has an exterior taper which decreases the outside diameter ofthe barrel from one end to the other. A first elongated bore 12 ofsubstantially uniform diameter extends from the narrow end of the barrelfor about two-thirds the length of the barrel, and is continued as aninternallythreaded bore 14 for about one-sixth the length of the barrel.Bore 14 is then stepped up to a smooth cylindrical short bore 16 whichis almost immediately stepped up to a larger smooth cylindrical bore 18,which terminates at the inner end of a smooth outwardly tapering bore 20opening out of the' larger end of the barrel. The taper of bore 20 isrelatively small, being approximately one degree with respect to thelongitudinal axis of the barrel. 1

- A tip ring 22 isvpress-fitted into the outlet end of bore 12 at thesmall end of the barrel. The inner end of the tip ring forms with thewall of cylinder 12 an inwardly extending annular shoulder 24. Anelongated cylindrical plunger 26 is disposed within cylinder 12 to makea close sliding fit. An elongated tip 28 is formed integrally with theend of the plunger near the smaller end of the barrelv and projectsoutwardly from the barrel. The inner end of the tip is of a slightlysmaller diameter than the plunger so that an annular shoulder 30 betweenthe plunger and the tip engages the inwardly extending annular shoulder24 to limit the travel of the plunger toward the smaller end of thebarrel. A substantially spherical knob 32 onthe outer end of the tipprovides a burnishing surface.

A compression spring 34 is disposed in the cylinder between the innerend of the plunger and an elongated spring follower 36 which has acylindrical portion 38 that makes a close sliding fit in cylinder 12.The end of the-spring follower extending toward the larger end of thebarrel is of enlarged diameter to provide a flat cap -or head 40 whichis engaged by the inner end of an externally threaded shank 42 threadedinto the threaded bore 14. An enlarged cylindrical bearing section 44formed integrally with shank 42 makes a close sliding fit in bore 18 ofthe barrel and within a metal shank ring 46 press-fitted into thetapered bore 20 at the larger end of the barrel. A flat blade or handle48 is formed integrally with the outer end of the shank to provide aconvenient means for screwing the threaded portion of the shank into andout of threaded bore 14 in the barrel. A series of marks or numbers onthe outer end of the shank at 50 provide an arbitrary scale forindicating the compression force applied to the spring, which sets theburnishing force applied by the tip of the tool.

In operation, the blade or handle is turned until the desired springforce is indicated by the alignment of the markers at 50 with the outerend of metal shank ring 46. The tool is then held with the fingers nearthe small end of the barrel. A series of annular grooves 52 around theexterior portion of the smaller end of the barrel prevent slipping andfacilitate accurate positioning of the force applied by the tip of theburnishing tool.

cient force to compress the spring to its minimum length.

The full range of dry transfer indicia sizes from all present commercialsuppliers is easily accommodated if the tool is equipped with twointerchangeable plunger-tips, the spherical knob being approximately0.075 inch on one and approximately 0.125 inch on the other.

The graphic artist or draftman normally uses a soft pencil, ballpointpen, or a blunt-ended rigid burnisher to apply the required force to thedry transfer materials. To prevent distorting, cracking, or wrinklingthe transfers, the user must very carefully control the force applied bythe burnisher. With the burnisher of this invention, even the occasionaluser can readily apply dry transfers because the spring-loaded plungerand tip provides a substantially uniform burnishing force duringoperation.

The spring follower 38 prevents wind-up of the spring 34 when the shank42 is rotated to adjust spring pressure.

At the present time, we have found that the user of the too] shouldselect a smaller ball tip for letters up to approximately 36 point size,and a larger ball tip for broad lines and characters greater than 36point. The lowest ball tip force which will just release the indiciafrom the carrier sheet should be selected. This is accomplished byrotating the handle to screw the shank into the barrel until the firstspring force marker is at the larger end of the barrel. If this tipforce is too low to transfer, the shank should be rotated to increasethe compression of the spring until consistent transfer of indicia fromthe carrier sheet is accomplished when burnishing. After the indiciahave been applied to the receiving surface, the carrier sheet should beplaced over the applied letter and the indicia firmly attached to thereceiving surface using the flat blade of the handle as a burnisher.

We claim:

1. A bumishing tool for transferring indicia from a carrier sheet to areceiving surface, the tool comprising an elongated barrel having a borein it, a movable plunger mounted in the bore, spring means urging theplunger out of the bore, stop means limiting the travel of the plungerout of the bore, a fixed ball tip formed integrally with the plunger andprojecting from the bore to provide a spring-loaded burnishing surface,and means for adjusting the force applied by the spring to the plungercomprising a shank threaded into the bore and engaged with the spring toadjust pressure in the spring, and an elongated handle formed integrallywith the shank and shaped as a flat blade to provide means forconveniently threading the shank into and out of the bore and to serveas a burnisher for the indicia transferred to the receiving surface.

2. Apparatus according to claim 1 including indicia formed on the outersurface of the shank to be aligned relative to the barrel as the shankis threaded in and out of the bore for indicating the force of thespring.

3. Apparatus according to claim 1 including a follower between thespring and shank.

4. Apparatus according to claim 1 in which the barrel is made ofplastic, and including a tip-ring press-fitted in the bore of the barreland arranged to engage a portion of the plunger to provide the stopmeans for limiting the travel of the plunger out of the bore.

5. Apparatus according to claim 2 including a follower between thespring and shank.

6. Apparatus according to claim 5 in which the barrel is made ofplastic, and including a tip-ring press-fitted in the bore of the barreland arranged to engage a portion of the plunger to provide the stopmeans for limiting the travel of the plunger out of the bore.

1. A burnishing tool for transferring indicia from a carrier sheet to areceiving surface, the tool comprising an elongated barrel having a borein it, a movable plunger mounted in the bore, spring means urging theplunger out of the bore, stop means limiting the travel of the plungerout of the bore, a fixed ball tip formed integrally with the plunger andprojecting from the bore to provide a spring-loaded burnishing surface,and means for adjusting the force applied by the spring to the plungercomprising a shank threaded into the bore and engaged with the spring toadjust pressure in the spring, and an elongated handle formed integrallywith the shank and shaped as a flat blade to provide means forconveniently threading the shank into and out of the bore and to serveas a burnisher for the indicia transferred to the receiving surface. 2.Apparatus according to claim 1 including indicia formed on the outersurface of the shank to be aligned relative to the barrel as the shankis threaded in and out of the bore for indicating the force of thespring.
 3. Apparatus according to claim 1 including a follower betweenthe spring and shank.
 4. Apparatus according to claim 1 in which thebarrel is made of plastic, and including a tip-ring press-fitted in thebore of the barrel and arranged to engage a portion of the plunger toprovide the stop means for limiting the travel of the plunger out of thebore.
 5. Apparatus according to claim 2 including a follower between thespring and shank.
 6. Apparatus according to claim 5 in which the barrelis made of plastic, and including a tip-ring press-fitted in the bore ofthe barrel and arranged to engage a portion of the plunger to providethe stop means for limiting the travel of the plunger out of the bore.